


If tomorrow never comes

by GaneWhoo



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Universe, Established Relationship, F/F, Krypton, Science and space and universe, space travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 06:08:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14254629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaneWhoo/pseuds/GaneWhoo
Summary: The situation, as Alex called it, turns out to be a real nightmare.A small army of Andromedans had landed on Earth the previous night, right in the middle of the desert around National City. The ship in which they came had top-notch technology and the stealth mode on it had made the invaders undetectable to any kind of radar on earth, even the system Winn had enhanced to be sure to catch any kind of alien activity.---An almost extinct race of alien lands on Earth, stirring something in Kara's heart ...





	1. CHAPTER 1

”Hi Kara. Mom around?” Carter asks, stifling a yawn as he sleepily pads his way across the kitchen. 

Kara glances up from the pancake she’s making and smiles at him. She watches as he sits atop one of the stools at the counter island and rubs a hand over his face, no doubt trying to get rid of the slumber still stuck to his eyelashes. He’s wearing a pair of black, grey and white flannel pyjama pants, paired with a t-shirt showing cute cartoons of all the planets plastered across his chest and his hair is a mess of unruly curls, mussed from sleep. 

“She’s getting dressed, yes. She said she’s staying for breakfast but then she’ll be on her way, she has a plane to catch,” Kara answered before putting a plate of pancakes, all shaped like the S of Supergirl, in front of the teenager. 

She chuckles at the way his blue eyes light up with joy and walks back towards the stove to make more pancakes. She eats a few of the pile she’s making, humming quietly as she moves around the kitchen with the comfortable ease of someone who lives there. 

She tilts her head to the left and then looks at the entrance, smiling when Cat’s silhouette makes its appearance. She’s wearing a sleeveless black dress that hugs her curves in all the right ways and exposes her delicately muscular calves and tanned arms. The bold, bright red stilettos highlight her thin and frail ankles and make her seem a lot taller than she truly is. 

“Morning sweetheart,” Cat says with a soft smile before landing a kiss on her son’s temple. He hums appreciatively in response. His mouth is full of pancakes but he still smiles at his mother and waves her good morning before focusing back on his breakfast. 

“Morning Supergirl.” Cat greets her with a smirk and Kara waits until the woman steps closer before pulling her into a soft hug. It doesn’t last a full minute but it’s more than enough for Kara to inhale Cat’s wooden and spicy perfume, a customized fragrance she fell in love with when they went to Grasse, as part of one of their trips across France. It’s been two years already but Cat has never worn anything else since that day. 

After dropping a kiss on her lover’s lips, Kara gently pushes her toward the counter island so she can sit next to her son and enjoy breakfast.

A minute later, she drops a plate filled with two pancakes in front of Cat and the woman arches a brow at it before looking up to meet her lover’s eyes.

“What am I, twelve?” Cat’s voice is witty and she tries to look unimpressed but her eyes, sparkling with amusement, are giving her away. The pancakes are shaped like the CatCo logo and Carter almost chokes on his bite when he notices it. He swallows quickly before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

“Come on, it’s fun. Now, shush and eat your breakfast,” Kara says, threatening her lover with her spatula as she tries to imitate the infamous Grant glare.

“Uh. Nice try, Kara, but you still need to work on that. Seriously, you always look like a lost golden retriever, no matter how hard you try …” Carter explains as he shakes his head, a smirk etched on his lips. Cat snickers but she sighs and cuts a bite of her pancakes, taking her time to bring it to her mouth.

Kara nods approvingly and then brings Cat a glass of fresh orange juice and a bowl of green grapes. 

“Thank you, Darling,” Cat simply says with a smile and she eats in silence, enjoying the low hum of Kara’s voice and her son’s presence next to her.

\---

“Hi buddy, there’s a situation in town, will you be alright on your own? I don’t know exactly how long it will last but I can drop you at Sam and Ruby’s, if you prefer?” Kara says as she hangs up the phone.

Carter looks up from his book and there’s a conflict in his baby blue eyes. She’s seen it a few times since he learned who she really was. It’s a mixture of worry and pride and she knows it’s because it is still hard for him to let her go save the world, for he truly is his mother’s son. 

“I don’t want to be alone while you fight, and Mom halfway across the Atlantic right now …” he finally says and Kara simply nods, not commenting on how insecure his voice sounds.  
It didn’t happen often but on the rare few times she’s had to go fight when his mother wasn’t around to reassure him, it didn’t go well and even today, he’s still having nightmares about it. 

She uses super-speed to change into her suit and then moves toward the balcony, waiting for Carter to be ready. 

He joins her barely a minute later, with a backpack that is always ready for such occasions. He doesn’t smile when he lets Kara hold him and he grabs her forearms when she lands in Sam’s backyard.

“Be careful, please?” he says and Kara hears the plea in his tone, she can feel that he is holding on tight to her arm and it’s notable, since she usually doesn’t even notice his weight. 

“I will, I promise,” Kara solemnly says but she can see in Carter’s eyes that her words, her tone and her smile aren’t nearly enough to calm his anxiety. 

“Hey buddy, we’re about to make lunch!” Sam’s voice suddenly breaks into their moment and Carter lets out a slightly annoyed sigh, before plastering a smile on his lips. Once again, Kara notices how much he looks like his mother but then, he’s walking away and she almost mourns the loss of his grip on her arms. 

“Hi Sam, thanks for looking after Carter while I’m dealing with the situation. I should be back in about an hour. Anything you want me to say to Alex? She’s waiting for me at the DEO ...” 

She doesn’t really like Sam, because she can’t help but see Reign everytime she looks into those dark brown eyes, but for Alex’s sake, she makes the necessary efforts to get along. Besides, Cat likes Sam enough to trust the woman with her son so Kara figures she can be civilized, at the very least. It’s all Alex asks of her.

“Just be careful, both of you,” Sam simply answers and Kara nods before focusing on Carter, who’s now standing next to Ruby’s mother. He’s holding onto his backpack too tightly and Kara sees the white of his knuckles as it lasts, she knows he’s trying to be brave. It makes her heart ache and break a little.

In a burst of super-speed, she’s crushing him into a hug and she hears the soft thud of the backpack hitting the grass underneath their feet, before she can feel Carter’s arms around her waist and fingers almost digging into her back, through the fabric of her cape and suit. 

“I will be back, I promise,” Kara whispers into his ear and even though he nods against her shoulder, she can almost feel the sob caught in his throat. She’s reluctant to let him go but when she does, the look on his face is a little more at peace.

“Go, and come back in one piece or else, you will deal with mom,” Carter says and his tone is light but his eyes are dark and it tells Kara it’s not really a joke. 

“Behave, young man,” Kara teases back and she takes off after one last glance at Sam to make sure she will take care of the boy.

\---

The situation, as Alex called it, turns out to be a real nightmare.

A small army of Andromedans had landed on Earth the previous night, right in the middle of the desert around National City. The ship in which they came had top-notch technology and the stealth mode on it had made the invaders undetectable to any kind of radar on earth, even the system Winn had enhanced to be sure to catch any kind of alien activity. 

“Andromedans are a super-race of alien from the Andromeda Galaxy and under the yellow sun, they have the same powers as mine and Superman’s. There were rumors on Krypton that even though the Andromedans were supposed to have died a long time ago, a small squadron had survived the extinction of their race and was traveling across the worlds to find a new planet to colonize …No one ever believed those rumors, for they were mostly carried on by the Daxamites, and since no Kryptonian would ever trust anyone from Daxam ...”

Kara looks away under Alex’s pointed glare. She doesn’t want to bring up Mon-El and so she keeps on sharing her little knowledge on the Andromedans.

“The legend, is my memory serves me well, is that the Emperor of the Andromedans, who was a tyrant and a mad ruler, refused any external help to save his people when the galaxy’s ressources wore out. One by one, the planets became empty, for the people died of diseases, hunger or even murder, since everyone was fighting to survive. In the end, everyone died or so the legend says.” 

J’onn, in his green martian form, nods gravely and Kara notices Alex is shifting from one foot to another, a tell-tale sign that she is growing restless. 

A familiar heartbeat suddenly catches Kara’s attention and she smiles, turning her head a few seconds before Lucy Lane barges into the DEO center of operations.

“Hi Luce, I didn’t know you were joining us today,” 

Kara greets her with a very enthusiastic hug and Lucy’s voice comes out a little strangled against her shoulder. “Oof, Kara, too tight!” 

She instantly releases the former major, a sheepish look on her face while she makes sure she didn’t break any of Lucy’s bones. The young Lane waves her upcoming apology off and smiles warmly.

“It’s been a while, Supergirl! Despite the circumstances, I am very happy to see you again.”

Kara’s smile widens and she is about to hug Lucy once more but the younger Lane shakes her head no, her narrowed eyes holding a warning Kara chooses not to ignore.

“Anyway, I’m here to join the operation team against the Andromedans. We finally found the ship, thanks to Winn and Lena’s work on deactivating the stealth mode, and we managed to gather some intel,” Lucy’s voice is clear and lined with authority. Grabbing a tablet, she starts pulling out some pictures of an very old and alien ship, one Kara only saw once when she was on Krypton. It’s a mixture of Daxamite and Kryptonian technology but modified and enhanced in a way that goes beyond her quite extensive understanding of mechanics. 

“Given the numbers of sleeping pods we found, there are, at the very least, six aliens on the loose and I didn’t understand everything our two resident nerds babled about but apparently, they were asleep for a very, very long time. Winn used the term stasis and he wasn’t able to give me an estimation of the time the aliens spent in that state but it’s … it’s counted in centuries,” Lucy finishes and she’s showing pictures of the inside of the ship, pointing at the six pods aligned at a regular interval against a wall. 

“We’re missing one,” Kara then whispers and all the eyes in the room are on her. They are confused, skeptical or simply patient but she doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes, simply staring at the inside of the ship. She points at the command center. “The settings here … The ship wasn’t in autopilot, it’s been driven manually for quite some time now. There was a pilot and the lack of any other pod suggests this Andromedan had been awake for … Rao knows how long.”

Silence follows at the end of her explanation and it’s Alex who speaks first. 

“Alright, but there are only six aliens flying around National City. So far, they haven’t tried anything but people are beginning to notice them and it won’t take much longer before they panic. Besides, we can’t take the risk of letting the aliens suddenly decide they’re done being pacifist. They might attack the city.”

Kara nods distractedly but her mind is racing with a thousand thoughts at once. 

She knows that she can’t take six, possibly seven, Andromedans by herself and she isn’t sure Superman will be of enough help to stop the invaders. Still, she has to call for his help because despite the full support of the DEO behind her her, she doesn’t stand a chance.

“I have to call Kal-El. Those Andromedans have been exposed to the yellow sun for less than a few days, they shouldn’t be too strong yet but I can’t take six, maybe seven of them by myself. I need Superman’s help and we should consider calling for The Flash’s team as well …”

Alex and Lucy start to protest and argue that the DEO can take the matter in hand but Kara shakes her head no and turns to face J’onn. His eyes are strangely colorless, lost in all the green of his Martian skin but she knows he is on her side.

“Supergirl’s right. We can’t go after the Andromedans without any significant fire power and despite my strength, I wouldn’t be enough to back Supergirl up in a fight against seven superpowered aliens,” he explains. It finally silences Alex and Lucy but they don’t look happy at all with the upcoming decision. “Call Superman, bring him up to speed and then let’s see if we are enough. Just in case, send a message out to your friends on the other earth to know if they would be available to help, should we need them …”

“Sure thing,” Kara replies and as J’onn walks away, flanked by Alex and Lucy, she pulls out a phone and calls her cousin.

It doesn’t take long before he picks up and she tells him his assistance is required. She’s formal and quiet, because they have been through some very rough patches during the past few years and she’s still not able to forgive him for a whole number of reasons. Still, he answers and he says he will be here in a couple of hours.

A quick message sent via Cisco’s device tells Kara that Team Flash is busy dealing with Barry’s arrest and imprisonment for life. She is dying to travel to Barry’s earth to ask what the hell is happening but she is needed here, to protect National City and the rest of the world from a dangerous race of aliens with unclear intentions toward the planet she now considers her home. 

“Team Flash won’t be able to help us,” she tells Alex as her sister steps into the medical bay, where Kara is sitting on the edge of a sunbed she knows a little too well for her own tastes.

“Everything okay with them?”

“No, not at all but it is something that will have to wait until I can safely travel to their earth to see if I can help them,” Kara sighs and then hops off the bed. 

“Did you call Cat?”

Kara swallows and shakes her head no, a pleading look in her eyes but Alex doesn’t let it go.

“Call her, because the last time you went to fight when she was away, you ended up being comatose for a little while and she took it all out on me and I won’t have it this time. Just call her, let her know what you’re up against. She will want to know where Carter is, too,” Alex orders and Kara swallows again. 

She knows her sister is right, so very right but every time she has to call Cat to let her know she’s about to go deal with a critical situation, it makes a dent in their otherwise almost perfect relationship.

“I know it feels terrible, but it’s because you guys love each other a little too much. It’s a good thing, you know that right?” 

Alex is looking directly at her and there is a soft smile on her lips. Kara knows Alex doesn’t exactly understand her relationship with Cat but she’s beyond grateful for her sister’s presence, her attentive ears and surprisingly good advice. 

“I know. Thanks, Alex. Kal-El should arrive shortly, by the way. He’s up to speed,” Kara sighs and her sister doesn’t ask. 

She was there when the cousins went into the fight of the century, both under the influence of Red Kryptonite and she heard all the horrors they exchanged, built on years and years of Kara burying her feelings and emotions and on Kal’s guilt about abandoning her when she landed and his insecurities about his origins. She was there to hold Kara tight after Kal-El left to go back to Metropolis, leaving the conflict unresolved and the wounds in Kara’s heart bleeding. 

“I’ll get him once he lands, call Cat.”

Kara glares at Alex but her sister is already on the way out, typing away at a tablet while speaking into her earpiece, probably co-ordinating something with Lucy or asking Winn and Lena for more intel. 

Her phone chimes and when she looks at the locked screen, there is a text from Alex, telling her to call Cat. Kara rolls her eyes and sends back an emoji with the yellow little man poking his tongue out. 

The picture on her phone is one of Cat and Carter, both absorbed in a science project and their faces lowered down on whatever they were working on at the time. Cat’s features are relaxed and open, soft. Carter’s focused and concentrated, but there is a the shadow of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. She loves that picture, even though it isn’t the best one of them she has - far from it, actually. Something in the randomness of the moment, the simple domesticity of the shot and the slightly blurred background just makes it Kara’s favorite and it soothes her just to look at it. 

Unlocking her phone with another sigh, she calls Cat and despite being halfway across the globe in a private plane, Cat picks up before it rings twice. 

“How many time Alex had to tell you to call me, before you actually listened to her?” 

Kara chuckles at Cat’s comment, already feeling more at ease despite the lingering threat of an alien invasion. Cat Grant never stopped being Cat Grant and Kara, even after all these years, still finds herself falling in love more and more. 

“Three times, two voiced out loud and one by text, literally right after her last time out loud,” Kara replies and she practically hears the smile that’s forming on Cat’s lips, miles and miles away above the ocean. 

“So, what’s happening? Why does something always happen the moment I leave, is it the universe’s way of telling me I truly am indispensable?” Cat’s tone is teasing and snarky but Kara hears the unusually quick rhythm of her heart, the tiny hitches in her breathing and there is a soft but very regular thud echoing down the line that tells her Cat’s knee is bouncing up and down again. 

“Well … You’re Cat Grant, there must be some truth in that statement and the universe, for all I know, might just agree,” Kara replies and she smiles, before focusing on the reason for her call. “Carter’s with Sam, he’s safe and sound but even though I am not worried, I had Alex send Vasquez over there, just in case anything happens.”

Cat stays silent for a few seconds before she asks “I wonder … Did you have Vasquez sent over because of whatever threat you are facing or is it because you don’t trust Sam?” 

Kara grits her teeth but when she doesn’t answer, Cat only sighs and then moves on.

“Nevermind, the important fact is that Carter will be safe. What about you? What are you up against this time?” Cat’s bouncing knee stops and Kara hears footsteps next. Cat’s pacing.  
“The usual, a few aliens crashed in the desert last night and I need to stop them, even though they haven’t made a move so far,” Kara tries but she instantly regrets downplaying the gravity of the situation. “No, wait. I can’t do that again, last time hurt us too much. I’m going to tell you the truth …”

On the other side of the line, Cat stops pacing and it takes a few seconds, almost a whole minute before she speaks again.

“Alright, I’m listening.”

Kara almost let out a relieved sigh but she knows better and instead, she starts explaining everything to Cat.

Once she’s done, Cat’s sharp intake of breath tells Kara she’s trying to be brave and not to let her worry show too much. She doesn’t say anything though, knowing Cat prefers to deal with her anxiety by herself.

“What’s the plan?” Cat asks and she means business. It’s her way of focusing on something concrete, on strategy and action to get rid of the menace and to focus on getting Kara back in one piece.

“Superman’s coming, he should be here in a minute now …” Cat doesn’t say anything to that, so Kara keeps on talking. “My friends from another earth can’t help us, Barry’s been arrested and imprisoned and I don’t have time to deal with that right now but once I’m done here with the Andromedans, I’m going there to find out exactly what happened …” 

“Those Andromedans … are they as dangerous as I think they are?” 

Kara winces but she said she would tell the truth and so she does “Probably even more so, yes. Lucy discovered six sleeping pods in the ship but there is a seventh Andromedan and whoever they are, they’ve been awake for centuries now … I think they’re the one we need to worry about the most. Lena and Winn are working on a way to identify this unknown Andromedan …”

Cat swallows hard, hard enough to cause Kara to move her phone away for a second because the sound is too loud in her ear. 

“I don’t like not being there when you fight. I know, rationally I know I can’t do anything, whether I’m there or not but I don’t like being away. I should turn around and get Carter, so we can wait for you to come home,” Cat finally says and she sounds a little lost, as if she doesn’t know what to do and Kara knows her lover hates uncertainty more than whole milk and crying at work. 

“Don’t do that, Cat. I know you mean well but don’t be that person who comes running from her career whenever their partner is in trouble. You are doing something important and I can practically hear the President’s heartbeat nearby, I’m pretty sure she won’t agree to turn around and I don’t want you to,” Kara explains as gently as she can manage. “You are Cat Grant and I love you for exactly who you are. You need to go to Paris, to settle that climate deal that could save the planet and I need to make sure there is still a planet to save, we make quite the power couple don’t you think?” 

That gets a small laugh out of Cat and Kara smiles fondly.

“You are such a sweet talker, Miss Danvers … Alright then, no turning around for me but then that means no dying for you, or ending up in a coma or … just, come home safely and as unharmed as possible, please,” Cat breathes and Kara wants to fly up to Air Force One to hold Cat in her arms and tell her everything will be alright. It would be a lie and they both know it, but Kara still thinks it’s a necessary evil, in their unique situation.

“Yes ma’am, now go save the world and I will talk to you soon.” 

Kara ends the call with a gentle I love you and then she sighs, heavily.

“Does that mean she won’t take it all out on me this time?” Alex asks as she re-enters the medical bay, glaring at her little sister with a questioning look in her eyes.

“She’s Cat Grant, I make no promises,” Kara shrugs and she smirks when it makes Alex groan.

“Fair enough, I guess … Now come on, we’re talking strategy and we need to come up with a plan. Superman’s here and already wearing on Lucy’s nerves with his suggestions of peaceful talks and diplomacy …” Alex rolls her eyes and Kara does so too, already annoyed at having to deal with her almost too-human cousin. 

“Alright, let’s get this on with,” Kara whispers and she glances at her lockscreen one more time before following her sister to the center of operations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,
> 
> It's me again, with something new and that fits the canon universe. It's rather unheard of me to write big fics with Supergirl, because I find it almost always restrains my imagination. However, this started as a one shot and it grew WAY bigger than that ...
> 
> Here's what you should expect. Angst, for sure. A lot of Krypton references, since it's a huge part of the plot. Some smut and fluff, because I'm not a total monster ( _shut up I'm not_ ) and a happy ending. Yes, yes, a **happy ending** , I promise. It's kind of like Funeral Blue, but with a lot more plot and sciences stuff.
> 
> Also, I don't like Superman, this will be pretty obvious later ... And I made up most of the stuff in this fic, aside from the aliens ( _they actually do exist in the DC universe but I was mostly thinking of Mass Effect ..._ ). The title is a song I absolutely love and it's fitting, you will realize it very soon.
> 
> Alright, that's it for now!
> 
> Reviews are always nice! 


	2. CHAPTER 2

It turns out the Andromedans don’t want to start a war. 

When Superman, Supergirl and the Green Martian dart up into the sky, six Andromedans fly across the city to regroup and meet with the heroes, hands raised in a gesture of peace.The little squad is made of three women and three men, all taller than the average human , with their skin as white as snow and their eyes of another shade of azure blue, close enough to Kara’s eyes color but also different. 

They have bright red hair, cut very short for the men and at shoulder length for the women. 

Kara is the first one to talk and she chooses to use her rudimentary Andromedan to do so, greeting the aliens in their own languages.   
They look touched, emotional even, and she can understand the feeling, she went through it when she found Astra, before losing her again and for good this time. They answer in the same language but she lacks the knowledge to understand them and she tells them exactly that, in Kryptonian.

In the end, one of the Andromedans floats forward and speaks in harsh but comprehensible English. He slowly gestures at the crest on her chest before trying to say some words.

“Lady Zor-El, we mean no harm to this planet,” the man starts and he looks a little uncertain but she nods, letting him know she understands what he says. “We are from the ancient galaxy of Andromeda and we have traveled space for many centuries before a meteor shower knocked our ship off course …”

Kara listens to him and nods, encouraging him to keep speaking. At her sides, J’onn and Superman are gently floating and they are quiet but their arms are still crossed over their chest, intimidatingly so. 

“We are looking for our commander, she wasn’t here when we woke up from our stasis state and we need to find her before …” the man pauses and then glances at his hand. He slowly raises three fingers and the word coming out of his mouth doesn’t belong to the English language.

“Three,” Kara supplies and the man nods before resuming his explanation. 

“The air of this planet is toxic for our lungs, it’s poison and we can’t stay exposed for more than three days, for then it will stick and we will die, even if we return to space afterwards ...”

Kara nods again and the reformulates the problem, to make sure she understood well. When the six Andromedans nod in unison, she tilts her head and then considers the issue.   
It takes a little while but eventually, she approaches the one who speaks English and asks, as slowly and clearly as she can.

“If you are to return to your stasis pod, will you be protected from our air?” 

He frowns and then nods “I believe so, yes.”

Kara glances back at Superman and the Green Martian, who seem to wait for her orders. 

“Maybe we can find your commander for you and then bring her to your ship, so she can take you back into space. Did you have a set course already, a destination in mind?” 

She wonders if they want to restart their civilization and as she does, she suddenly feels a little jealous. That is a possibility she never had and she knows it’s irrational and ridiculous but she mourns the loss of that chance anyway. 

“Our commander, she is the one who knows a planet on which we could start over,” the man replies and Kara’s heart squeezes painfully in her chest. 

“Very well. What is your name, Andromedan?” Kara asks next, trying to push away her emotions to deal with the situation at hand.

“My name is Karb-Mork, Lady Zor-El. May I say that despite the circumstances, I am honored to meet the last heir of the Great House of El,” the man replies and he does sound a little in awe. Kara is just grateful he didn’t mention Krypton.

“Very well, Karb-Mork. You need to come with us to the DEO, it’s a government agency with resources that will be helpful in finding your commander and for that, you need to give us all the information you have on her. Then a team will take you back to your ship and some of our people will be able to put you back into stasis mode. Once we find your commander, we will bring her back to your ship and she will return you all into space,” Kara explains and she discreetly checks with J’onn that he agrees with the plan. 

He does but Superman frowns.

“How can we be sure they won’t betray our trust?” he asks and Kara rolls her eyes.

“We don’t, but they are going to die if they stay on Earth for too long, I’d say it’s in their best interest to let us help and not to act out,” Kara answers and she arches a questioning brow at Karb-Mork, who only nods and raises his hands again. 

“Can you explain what’s happening to your people? We need them to follow you to the DEO’s headquarters …”

Karb-Mork nods and then turns to speak to the men and women still floating behind him.   
The language is sweet and soft and the words flow like freshly-made honey in their mouths. The accents are different, they don’t raise their voice toward the end of a sentence to formulate a question and they emphasise some words rather than others. As a result, it gives a weirdly melodic rhythm to the exchange.

It makes Kara’s heart drop a little because she can almost hear the faintest echo of Kryptonian in some of their intonation. The way the “r” slowly rolls off the tongue, the gentle round of the vowel, the slight whisper around the “s” and the sharpness of the consonant …   
It all brings back memories of a language she is the only one to truly speak now, for it isn’t Kal-El’s mother tongue and his Kryptonian is rough and cutting, too human for her liking. 

“We are ready to follow you, Lady Zor-El,” Karb-Mork finally says and it’s a shock to hear him speak English again, now that she has had the chance to appreciate his native language. 

“Very well, Karb-Mork. Let’s go.”

She flies off into the sky and she can’t help but notice that Kal-El takes the spot at the rear of the group, making his distrust evident. She grits her teeth but doesn’t say anything and simply leads the Andromedans to the DEO’s building.

\---

Alex doesn’t even bat an eye when a whole squad of aliens lands behind her sister on the DEO’s balcony.

“Please, follow me,” she says, and the men and women from Andromeda obey without a fuss. She leads them into the medical bay and asks one of the woman to sit on one of the beds, drawing a confused look from the red-haired alien. 

Kara swallows back the Kryptonian words that threaten to escape her mouth and she lets Karb-Mork repeat Alex’s instruction in Andromedan. The woman does as asked but from the way she constantly looks around, everyone can tell she is scared. 

“Pardon me for asking but what is it you want from Kerl-Arn?” 

Karb-Mork’s voice is soft and gentle but his eyes, of an translucent blue color, are swimming with worries. 

It’s Alex who takes her time to explain that she needs to run some tests in order to gather information that might be useful to create a cure, or at the very least something to bypass the toxic element in Earth’s air. Karb-Mork live-translates every line in his language for his teammates and eventually, the squad of Andromedans relax a little.

“Karb-Mork, once my sister is done with the tests, you will need to give us every piece of information you have on your leader, so we can get to work and find her while you return to your stasis-pods,” Kara tells the Andromedan and he nods, his fascinating eyes never leaving the woman he had called Kerl-Arn. He his watchful and curious at once, Kara sees him twitch when Alex punctures the woman’s skin to draw some blood. 

The liquid comes out black in the syringe but Alex’s face stays unreadable. Only the sparkles of awe and surprise dancing in her hazelnut eyes are betraying her scientific curiosity. 

“I will follow you once I am certain my team is safe and well, Lady Zor-El,”

She nods, because she was expecting that much from him. 

She wonders how he feels, after so many centuries spent in a stasis state. He woke up from it only to find himself, and the only other survivors of his race, lost on a hostile planet, with no hope of ever returning to their homeworld. She realizes that even though he isn’t alone, he might still feel lonely, for everything that had once been his world was now gone forever. 

Kara knows, she knows better than anyone else on earth that loneliness is something incredibly personal and that despite almost every person experiencing the feeling, it’s different from one person to another. Loneliness is born out of memories, images of the past and it’s a yearning for something more, something else, something that is sometimes unknown and it’s a sickness that sinks down into the heart of a soul, that soaks it fully and slowly drains all of its joy out. It’s a cancer that extinguishes everything and it’s as deadly as any actual disease. 

“All good, I have everything I need. I will start working on it right away,” Alex’s voice pulls Kara out of her morbid thoughts and she nods, letting her sister know she heard. 

Karb-Mork steps forwards and his voice is tender and delicate when he speaks to the woman on the bed. Kara can’t know for sure, she doesn’t understand the words that are being said but she thinks Kerl-Arn is very dear to the English-speaking Andromedan. 

“Can you assure me that my friends will be safe while I talk to you and whomever else might be in charge?” 

Kara smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. 

“Your English has already improved since you first started talking to us … I assume it is the result of super-hearing, allowing you to pick up and to assimilate the language since it’s being spoken everywhere nearby …” Karb-Mork nods but he doesn’t smile and his eyes are focused, intense and sparkling. Kara can’t look elsewhere. 

“Your friends will stay here with my sister, they are in the safest hands possible.” 

The Andromedan seems to consider her words but eventually, he says something to his squad and then steps closer to Kara.

“Lead the way, Lady Zor-El.”

\---

Superman is waiting in the center of command, harboring his usual, trademark posture but upon seeing the Andromedan trailing behind Kara, he moves up his hands from his hips to cross his arms over his chest. His eyes darken and he loses his easy smile.

“Supergirl,” J’onn greets her sternly, arms crossed over his chest as well but since it’s Hank’s usual standing position, Kara doesn’t see it as unwelcoming and intimidating as Clark tries to be. 

“Interesting,” Karb-Mork says and Kara turns to see what caught the Andromedan’s interest, she follows his line of sight and it takes her back to Hank. 

The director doesn’t look very comfortable, all of a sudden, and Kara smirks.

“Did you just try to read his mind?” 

“He certainly did,” Karb-Mork answers her question but he doesn’t sound offended, rather curious and intrigued. “I have never met a Green Martian before and I must say, the shape-shifting ability is truly fascinating.” 

“It appears that Andromedans are every bit as immune to mind-reading as Kryptonians,” J’onn grumbles and he then shrugs. “I shouldn’t have tried to get into your mind, Karb-Mork. My apology.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Alright, now that the niceties are out of the way …” Lucy’s voice chimes in and she stands up from one of the seats she had been sitting on, already walking toward the little group.

“Winn and Lena are currently trying to fix the ship to restart the stasis pods. As soon as we have everything we need to know about your leader, a chopper will take you and your team to the ship and our technicians slash geeks slash nerds will put you back to artificial sleep,” the former major explains and she looks right into Karb-Mork’s eyes as she speaks. 

He nods but doesn’t say anything, seemingly enthralled by Lucy’s aura of authority. She frowns but Kara shakes her head no and so Lucy doesn’t say anything. Instead, she turns away, grabs a tablet and then pulls up a few pictures and digital documents about the ship and its occupants; everything the team was able to gather.

“Alright, so who is your leader and how do we find her?”

Karb-Mork stays silent for a little while longer and when Kara focuses on his face, she sees hesitancy, uncertainty and something akin to rebuttal. His eyes gleam every so softly, under the halo cast by the multiples TV screens in front of them and his hands twitch a little from time to time, despite the apparent calm he is trying to show. 

“We are only here to help, Karb-Mork,” Kara finally breaks the silence, keeping her tone quiet and neutral. She understands his doubts but they don’t have the luxury to wait and she reminds him so. 

“Your teammates are in danger and the faster you tell us everything about your commander, the sooner we can start looking for her and then bring her back to the ship, so she can launch you back into space. Hopefully, she will be able to find a planet on which you will all be able to settle and prosper …”

Kal-El shifts uncomfortably next to Lucy and the light shushing sound of his cape unerves her. She knows she sound a little bitter, she can’t exactly help it. 

“I hope so as well, Lady Zor-El, but I need insurance that you won’t harm her. Your cousin here, young Kal-El, is giving off some seriously negative vibes and I am afraid of what could happen, should he decide to fight with our leader … She truly is the last hope of our race, after all,” Karb-Mork doesn’t sound angry but his eyes, deep and intense, are surveying every one of Superman’s moves. “I do trust that you have only good intentions toward us, Lady Zor-El, but I can’t say the same about your cousin here.”

Kara lets out a deep sigh and Lucy arches a questioning brow, her green eyes darting between the two kryptonians and the Andromedan. 

“I can understand your doubts, Karb-Mork,” Kara starts and she instantly raises a hand to stop whatever protest is about to come out of her cousin’s mouth. “How would you feel if J’onn, the green Martian, were to join me in my search for your leader while Superman goes to help our technicians to fix your ship?” 

The Andromedan’s eyes still don’t move from Kal-El’s face and if Kara didn’t know any better, she could have sworn he was trying to read the Kryptonian’s mind. 

Eventually, Karb-Mork nods, slowly, before turning to face Lucy.

“Our leader’s name is Kerl-Yara and she is has blue blood in her veins, for she is the last heir of the royal family that used to rule over the entire Andromedan Galaxy,” he starts and there is a dark undertone to his voice, something troubled and deep. “She rebelled against her father, the last king of our world, and to punish her, he sent her into one of or most remote star, populated by the scum of all the galaxies in the universe. Thieves, rapists, murderers, slave traffickers, you name it …”

Kara doesn’t shudder but Lucy does.

“All kind of criminals lived there. She survived, no one knows exactly how but she survived and when the end of our world came, so did she. She landed near the royal palace where she once lived and grabbed some survivors but she couldn’t save them all and so she left again, with only the six of us in a few stasis pods.” 

He comes to a halt and takes a deep breath, before glancing toward Superman. Kara follows the gesture and sees that her cousin is listening closely but his arms are still crossed over his chest, he hadn’t relaxed since the Andromedan questioned his intentions. 

“I apologise if this is insensitive, but when your planet exploded, it was the only one, with the exception of Daxam and some side worlds with only a few inhabitants. It was a tragedy, of course, but when Planet Andromeda exploded, drained to the core from its energy, it created a chain reaction across the whole Andromeda galaxy and nothing survived. Nothing at all. All of the planets disappeared into nothing, becoming particles of dust that were barely visible in the light of a faraway sun. It became emptiness and nothingness, a quiet black space in a corner of the universe …” 

“I thought your people died of hunger and despair, after your king refused any external help to save your world … There was a legend on Krypton, saying your galaxy was a cemetery, full of dead and empty planets, devoid of any form of life and colors. I didn’t know about any explosion ...” Kara wonders out loud and she can’t help but frown because her memories are reliable and solid and she doesn’t know if she can trust Karb-Mork.

“That fate happened before the total obliteration of the Andromeda Galaxy. The king did indeed refuse any kind of help from outside worlds and it drove most of our dependant planets to die, with people killing each other for food or shelter until there was no one left. Planet Andromeda was the last one with survivors, the royal palace being the last bastion of a dying race … Eventually, the energy drained from the planet’s core and caused the explosion that destroyed an entire part of the universe. I was already in stasis when it happened but I know Kerl-Yara saw it unfold before her eyes.”

“How do you know that?” Lucy asks, sounding suspicious. 

It’s a very good question and Kara can’t help but narrow her eyes at the Andromedan. However, Karb-Mork doesn’t seem to notice and the smile that graces his lips for a second makes her feel cold. It’s not reaching the Andromedan’s eyes and it’s haunted, broken and painful. 

“She kept very meticulous journals of the journey and of her … thoughts, if you would. It’s in Andromedan but if you allow one of my teammates to join us, he might be able to work on an algorithm, is it?, to translate everything in English for you,” he says and Lucy glances at J’onn before nodding her assent. 

Karb-Mork goes to find his friend and Kara turns to face her cousin.

“Could you be any more hostile toward the Andromedans?” she snarls and Kal-El unfolds his arms, looking slightly sheepish. It doesn’t last because already, he is walking up to her and she waits for the usual half-hearted advice and unwanted guidance he thinks she needs. 

“Kara, you cannot trust those aliens. I know their story sounds similar to ours but …” 

“Ours?” Kara snaps and she instantly steps into Kal-El’s personal space. He is slightly taller than her but it doesn’t stop her from towering above him, her eyes burning with anger and resentment.

“You have no idea what it’s like to live with the weight of a dead world on your soul. You were a baby when you landed on Earth and you grew up here, you might be Kryptonian by blood but not by heart. You are desperately human, **Clark** , so don’t you dare compare my story to yours,” she growls and she mentally smiles when he takes a step back, looking a little alarmed. She stands straight and glares at him for a few more seconds before turning her head to watch as Karb-Mork re-enters the center of commands, flanked by one of the male Andromedans.

“This is Karb-Terx and if you give him access to a computer, he will be able to learn English and to then build the algorithm to translate Andromedan into your language.”

Kara doesn’t question the fact that Andromedans can learn languages in a matter of minutes. After all, she herself had a knack for it and she was slowly learning how much alike Kryptonians and Andromedans truly were. 

“Alright, you can arrange that with Lucy. I have to call Cat to update her on the situation. I will stop by Sam’s place as well, to check on Carter. I will back in about an hour,” Kara states and she glares once more at her cousin, silently telling him he better behave.

“Don’t worry about him. I’ll keep an eye on his moody highness over here,” Lucy chimes in and the mocking jab makes Kara chuckle. 

“Will you let Alex know where I went?”

“Sure thing, Supergirl. See you later,” Lucy nods and then waves her off, so Kara walks to the balcony and takes off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Sorry for the lack of Supercat interactions in this chapter, I had to further the plot ... I hope you enjoy the science-ish stuff and the alien storyline I'm making up ... It's one of the first fic I ever wrote that features so much Krypton stuff and I'm usually not good with that kind of stuff so, let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, you might have noticed, I am not a fan of Superman. Not at all ...
> 
> _Reviews are always nice!_


	3. CHAPTER 3

“I remember Lois telling me something similar once, about your cousin. That he was the most human person she had never met …”

Cat’s voice soothes Kara’s troubled soul and she smiles, because for Cat to casually mention Lois, the hour must be grave. 

“Lois, uh?”

“Shut up Supergirl, you know very well that Lesser Lane and I have a very complicated relationship,” Cat snaps, but there isn’t any bite to her tone. If anything, she sounds a little nostalgic.

“Everything okay, Cat?” Kara asks and a huff answers her on the other end of the line.

“I should be asking you that, Kara. How do you feel? I know you consider Clark as the only living member of your Kryptonian family, but darling, remember this ; family isn’t entitled to anything. Sometimes, it’s perfectly alright to not get along with your family and it is just the way it is, no reason to feel guilty over it,” Cat explains and Kara nods, despite the fact her lover can’t see the gesture.

She’s hovering miles and miles above the city she has come to consider as her home, soaking in the sunlight and enjoying the little peace and quiet she can steal up there. Her cape gently flows behind her, ruffled by the currents of the wind from time to time.

“I know, Cat. I know that and it’s been a hard journey but I am finally here, accepting the fact he is different. I still love him, I do, but I can’t seem to get along with him and his way of thinking. I just … I just wish, sometimes, that I had landed on time to be the one to raise him, to teach him our language, the customs of our people, the religious beliefs I grew up with … He knows some, thanks to the Fortress of Solitude but he’s … it’s not the same,” Kara sighs and she realizes she sounds a little whiny. 

She groans and talks again before Cat can make a comment about it.

“He doesn’t trust the Andromedan and it bothers me. They lost everything and they can’t stay here or else they will die and it will be the end of an entire race, for good. They haven’t shown the slightest intention towards violence or war and he still gives them a hard time.”

“Darling, it sounds to me that you are projecting on the Andromedans, with all of your good heart and luminous soul,” Cat gently counters and Kara wants to protest but she knows it’s the truth. She totally relates to the Andromedan’s tragic story, a little too much apparently.

“I know, but … It could have been us, you know? It could have been some of the Kryptonian people, if we had been lucky enough to have someone save a bunch of us before the planet exploded. I don’t understand how Kal-El can’t see that,” she mumbles and her eyes land on the DEO building, miles underneath her feet. It sparkles under the sunlight.

“Because he grew up here on Earth and where you see a people in need, with a story that is very close to yours, he sees a potential threat to the only home he knows,” Cat answers, softly enough for the world to imprint in Kara’s mind. 

She knows she isn’t being rational but still, she grits her teeth before replying. 

“Don’t you think I am worried about them being a potential danger for Earth as well? For Rao’s sake Cat, Carter lives here, you do too, Alex grew up here, Eliza, Jeremiah, all of my friends ... This planet might not be my first home but it’s the only one I have left and I will give my life to protect it from anyone that means to cause it harm!” 

She hears Cat takes a sudden and sharp intake of breath, as well as the sudden increase of Cat’s heartbeat. It makes her realize she went a little too far. 

“I didn’t mean … I’m sorry, no one will die, of course not but that’s not even the point. I just … I guess I am just tired of feeling lonely in Superman’s presence,” Kara sighs, listening to Cat’s breathing as it regains it usual rhythm. “I envy the Andromedans, you know. They lost everything and I think Karb-Mork does feel very lonely at times, but at least, there are seven of them. It’s not much when you know their people inhabited a whole galaxy, but it’s something at least.” 

It’s more than I got, she doesn’t say but Cat seems to hear the unspoken words anyway.

“I am sorry, Kara. I know Kal-El will never give your back the feeling of belonging to a people you lost. I can only offer you the certitude that you do belong on Earth, Kara. You might be a alien with superpowers, you might be a sun, some kind of goddess or even a myth to some humans but you belong amongst us. I am very grateful for your existence, especially since I am lucky enough to be yours,” Cat whispers the last sentence and Kara’s heart suddenly soars up with love and she’s filled with the calming sense of being at peace.

It’s more efficient than the sunlight she’s been soaking for the past twenty minutes. The words are soft and warm and tender, they slip underneath her skin and course along with the blood in her veins, flowing everywhere in her body and just like that, she smiles and she knows everything is alright, or everything will be.

“I love you,” she says and it’s plain, simple, true. It’s pure love and she practically hears Cat smile, above the sound of the racing heartbeat and fluttering eyelashes. 

“I love you too, Supergirl. Now, go save the world or whatever it is you do when I’m not around,” Cat jokes and Kara chuckles, knowing it’s her way to deflect the gravity of the moment. 

It’s been a few years but Cat still doesn’t feel comfortable enough to talk about love. She’s improved, vastly, since they started dating but it’s still sensitive and a little uneasy.   
Kara doesn’t mind it as much nowadays, she’s content with baby steps.

“I’m going to check on Carter before heading back to the DEO to see if we have everything to go search for the Andromedan’s leader. You should land in Paris in a few hours, I will call you then, hopefully with updates,” Kara explains.

“Alright, talk to you soon. Hug Carter for me,” Cat hangs up on those last words and Kara smiles and shakes her head, amused by how abrupt her lover sounds when she wants to end a conversation.

\---

A few minutes later, when she lands on the grass of Sam’s backyard garden, the smell of freshly baked cookies makes her stomach growl. She wonders if she should intrude on whatever family moment the Arias family is having with Carter, but the young boy decides for her as he steps out on the porch.

“Supergirl! If you’re back so soon, does that mean I can go home?” 

He sounds eager and his smile is wide across his face, she feels terrible that she has to shoot his hope down. 

“Not yet buddy, not yet. I just came to check on you and to remind you that you have a very big test tomorrow, one you need to be ready for …”

He arches a perfect brow at her and she can’t help but smile because he looks so much like his mother, at this very moment. 

“Mom told you to remind me, didn’t she?” His voice is even, unimpressed, and the brow is still high up above his left eye. 

“She did, indeed. I just got off the phone with her, she should be in Paris in a few hours and she said she will call you to test your geographical knowledge,” Kara tries, reaching a hand to mess with his curls once she stands next to him.

“She will not, you made that up,” Carter calls her out on her lies, but she sees the shadow of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, and his bright blue eyes gleam with amusement. That’s how she figures he’s not too mad at her for not taking him home just yet.

“It smells heavenly around here, did you and Ruby make cookies?” 

“Sam did, while I helped Ruby with her homework. The girl knows some serious science,” Carter hums appreciatively and Kara throws him a meaningful glare.

“What did you expect, the girl has been living with Alex for the past two years or so, of course she’s a killer. What did you help her with then?” Kara asks and Carter smirks.

“English, Spanish and some French. She obviously doesn’t like foreign languages …” Kara thinks back on Karb-Mork and his ability to quickly adapt to any language. 

“Well, you didn’t either until I came along,” she points out and Carter only shrugs. 

Truth is, he never cared much for any language that wasn’t English until he learned about Kara’s alter ego. She had been teaching him some Kryptonian since then and it had extended his curiosity to other languages as well as making it easier for him to learn them. Once you learned an alien dialect, the basic, human ones were apparently a piece of cake, he had told her. 

“Come on in and have some cookies. Sam’s working in her office, Susan’s sulking in the living room and Ruby’s still trying to write her French essay,” he invites her in and she follows, waving the young girl hello before helping herself to some freshly baked goods.

She nods and sheepishly smiles at the DEO agent sitting on the couch but Susan doesn’t reply and her glare puts Kara’s heat vision to shame. She knows Susan takes her orders very seriously and that if anything happens, Sam, Ruby and Carter will be safe but it doesn’t mean Susan isn’t bitter and angry, for she is a trained field agent and doesn’t like to be treated as a glorified babysitter. 

So Kara choses to focus on the food, as per usual. 

“Oooh those are great cookies. Triple chocolate chips?” 

“Yes indeed,” Sam’s voice echoes somewhere in the house and Kara turns her head to see the woman enter the living room. She’s smiling but she has a pen tucked behind her right ear, a pair of working glasses perched atop her head and she’s holding a stack of papers covered with lines and lines of numbers.

“Budget review, I see,” Kara greets her in an attempt to be civilized. 

It works because Sam nods and groans before explaining how annoying it is. Kara knows, of course, since she’s been working on the CatCo ones for as long as she can remember, but she lets Sam ramble about it for a few minutes.

“Well, I’m sure you’re going to get to the end of it, eventually. LCorp is in good hands with you as its CFO,” Kara nods once Sam’s finished and it earns a smile from the other woman.

“I am so glad Lena came back to be the actual CEO, I don’t think I could have lasted long in that position,” Kara nods again, thinking she is indeed glad Cat came back to be the CEO of CatCo, which drove Lena to reclaim her own company and to reorganize the managing team to accommodate Sam’s new life as a real human. 

Still, it didn’t make any of it easier for Kara, who still struggled to separate Reign from Sam sometimes. 

“Everything worked out for the best, yes,” Kara agrees and then walks out to the backyard again. “Thanks again for watching after Carter, Sam. I have to go back to the DEO, I don’t know when I will be back but I’ll have Alex update you if there are any developments you should be aware of.”

She steps out, after one last hesitant smile to an unimpressed Susan, and Carter follows her again, watching her closely as she readies herself to take off.

“Behave, young man, and work on your geography!” Kara throws him a meaningful glare before smiling. He returns the smile but he looks worried, still. “Don’t worry buddy, I’ll be back to take you home this time.”

The nod gives away his skepticism but she doesn’t push. She waves him goodbye and shoots into the sky.

\---

“Winn? I thought you were working on fixing the ship …” Kara stares at her friend, slightly confused.

They are in the DEO command center and J’onn is nearby, barking orders at a bunch of agents. Alex is nowhere in sight but Lucy is typing away at a keyboard, surveying the screens as she does so. 

“I had Superman bring him back to the DEO once your Andromedan friend gave us all the information we needed. He’s helping me locate the last princess of Andromeda or whatever,” Lucy waves off dismissively and it makes Kara greets her teeth that the younger Lane shows so little consideration for an almost extinct race. 

“Kerl-Yara is not a princess and she deserves our respect,” Kara mutters, staring purposely at Lucy. The younger Lane’s eyes widen a little and she looks sheepish.

“Sorry Kara, I’m just … No, sorry. No excuses. You’re right,” Lucy does sound apologetic and Kara nods before asking where her sister is.

“She’s still in the medical bay, working on understanding what makes the Andromedan cells unable to process Earth’s air,” Lucy answers but she’s already distracted, dealing with whatever intel came up on her dash. 

“Alright, do you need any help here?” 

“No, thanks Kara. I will call you if anything comes up,” Winn says and he too is focused on his screens, so Kara goes to find Alex.

She finds her sister hunched over her microscope, a white lab coat thrown loosely over her DEO uniform and with a pair of glasses perched atop her head. Kara watches, fondly, as Alex pushes up the glasses a little higher instead of putting them on her nose. She gently coughs to make some noise and Alex glances up, a smile instantly gracing her lips when her eyes land on her sister’s figure. 

“Hi Kar’, how’s my best buddy Carter? Did you bring me back some cookies?”

“Pff, as if! Do you know who you’re talking to?” Kara teases and Alex laughs, the sound filling the medical bay and echoing in it for a little while longer. “Where are the Andromedans?”

“J’onn put them in a vacant dormitory, so they can freshen up a bit and get some rest.” Kara nods and steps closer to Alex, hopping on a stool at the desk next to where her sister is working. “A chopper is on its way to take them back to the ship, where Superman and Lena Luthor are working on the stasis pods. I would pay great money to see that show, by the way …” 

Kara rolls her eyes but a smirk makes its way upon her lips. “A Luthor and Super, working together … Lena said that to me once, although I doubt it applies in her current situation.” 

It was no secret Kal-El didn’t like the last free Luthor, despite having worked alongside her multiple times since their first meeting. Lena didn’t like Superman either but for the sake of Kara’s peace of mind, she made some effort to be civilized and for the most part they both respected the status quo, save for the occasional snark and side comments. 

“Your cousin is being a pain in the ass, last time I heard. Lena texted me some crucial information about the components of the liquid the stasis pods are filled with and she added that we could have kept Superman, since he was causing more trouble than actually helping …I think she’s annoyed because we sent him in in lieu of Winn. You know how she likes our nerdy friend,” Alex smiles and Kara shrugs. 

She doesn’t want to dwell on the friend preferences of Lena Luthor, they have work to do. 

“Did you find anything about what makes them allergic to Earth’s air?” 

Alex’s smile fades away and she suddenly looks incredibly older than she truly is. Lines crease her features and crinkles her eyes with age and worries.

“Nothing.” She almost spits out the word, angry at herself. “As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with their physiology. If anything, it seems the yellow sun makes them even stronger than you but I can’t, for the life of me, figure out the problem …” 

“Well, you’ve been working on it for less than a few hours, give it a little more time and you might find something?” Kara offers but Alex’s glare is hard and unbelieving. 

“We don’t have that much time. In a little more than forty-eight hours, they will be forever infected and then, no one will be able to save them …” She sounds defeated and Kara moves to hug her, unable to stand seeing Alex that affected. 

“You’ll figure something. I mean, we might find the leader in time and then she’ll launch the ship back into space and they will all be safe, by then …” Kara tries and she feels more than she hears the groan Alex muffles in her shoulder. 

Time stretches on but Alex doesn’t move and Kara lets her stay. She needs her sister’s embrace as much as Alex seems to need hers and so they hug for a long while before a gentle cough forces them apart. 

“Sorry to intrude girls, but Winn found something and Director Henshaw is calling for you, Supergirl,” Lucy says, looking as annoyed as she sounds. Kara figures the younger Lane doesn’t like to be used as a messenger, since it is usually her girlfriend’s role. 

“Thanks, Luce. Give me just one more minute and I’ll be there,” Kara lets her know and Lucy nods before walking away.

“You will figure it out, Alex. I have faith in you,” Kara then turns to face her sister and she smiles, bright and luminous like the sun she draws her power from. “I have to go find the Andromedan commander but I’ll be back soon enough.”

“Be careful and listen to orders, Kara. I mean it, don’t go rogue on us against a bunch of aliens with powers similar to yours,” Alex warns her but then she punches at her shoulder, playfully. “Also, don’t die on me because I don’t want to be the one to break it to Cat. She nearly drove me crazy the last time you got injured during a fight; I really don’t want to relive the experience.”

Kara chuckles and then winks, already stepping towards the exit.

“No promise, but I’ll try,” she says and she blows a kiss at her sister before leaving the medical bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a clever note this time around, so feel free to come talk to me on tumblr **lost-your-memory**
> 
> See you around ;)


	4. CHAPTER 4

They find Kerl-Yara in an abandoned warehouse located in a deserted area of the port.  
It’s a huge building, old but sturdy and with lead in the walls. 

“She’s clever,” Kara mutters, hovering above the port and breathing through the mouth to avoid the heady and nauseating smell of eviscerated fish and rotten seafood. “I can’t see inside the warehouse. Winn, what’s in there?”

She hears a scrambling noise on the other side of her earpiece and waits a little before her friend’s voice comes through.

“It’s storage for old and damaged containers, the ones that don’t fit the new international requirements. It’s been empty for quite some times now and it belongs to … oh, wait …” Winn trails off and he sounds surprised, as well as slightly annoyed. 

Kara hears the insistent sound of fingers punching the keyboard. A beeping noise tells them another person had been added to the channel.

“Lena, do you owe Warehouse 13, conveniently located on the industrial part of the port?” 

Kara arches a brow and glances at J’onn, who’s floating nearby. He shakes his head and shrugs, letting her know he doesn’t know anything about the latest discovery.

“Oh, it must be one of Lex’s warehouses. I haven’t been able to go through all the real estate he left me when he died … I mean, I guess it’s one of his but it could have been my mother’s …” Lena’s voice is quiet and calm, it takes Kara’s super-hearing to detect the micro-sighs and the tiny tremble of her vowels. 

“I’m sorry, Lena. We were just surprised when we realized who own the building. You know I trust you with my life, right?” 

Lena’s heartbeat quickens just enough to let Kara know her words soothed her friend’s soul and it makes her smile, widely. 

“I know. Thank you for asking me and of course, you have my permission to do whatever you want to the warehouse. Not that you need it but you know …” Lena chuckles and Kara joins her, ignoring the way J’onn is rolling his eyes next to her. 

“Okay girls, I tapped into the security system inside the warehouse and just so you know, I’m totally going to steal the tech because damn, it’s top-notch and the DEO needs an upgrade anyway …” Winn starts to ramble and Kara opens her mouth to remind him to get to the point but Lena jumps into the chat and does it for her.

“Sure Winn, whatever. I’d be happy to provide enhanced technology to the DEO but please, tell us what you found. Since she can’t see through lead, Supergirl needs intel before she can enter the warehouse …”

“Right, right. My bad. Anyway, no movement inside but there is a thermal signature lying on … something, somewhere high up. Right corner of the building, as far away from the main door as possible. I’m guessing it’s our girl, sleeping in the second or third container in a pile of what seems to be five …” Winn is still typing away at his keyboards. After a beat, he adds “Kara, some of the old containers are made of lead as well and it’s a maze inside. I’m going to try to hack the rest of the layers composing the security system and hopefully, I’ll be able to guide you through ...”

“Thank you, Agent Schott. Going in in five. Miss Luthor, how’s the situation on your side?” J’onn chimes in, meaning business.

“The Andromedans are being processed, one by one. We are easing them into the stasis pods, four more to go. Superman is still trying to fix the ship’s main engine but so far, no luck.” 

Kara rolls her eyes but she stays quiet. She knows better than to ask why Lena isn’t the one fixing the ship, since it’s more in her line of work, because she knows Kal-El didn’t give her any choice in the matter. 

“Patch him through,” J’onn asks and there is a new beeping sound, before Superman’s voice echoes in their ears.

“The main engine’s dead.”

“It is not, you just don’t know your way around an alien spaceship,” Lena snaps and Kara smirks. She sees a sparkle of amusement shine in J’onn’s eyes but he doesn’t give anything away.

“Oh, and you do, Miss Luthor?” Superman replies, almost smugly. Kara can’t help but laugh.

“As a matter of fact I do, yes. I’ve been stranded on a Daxamite ship with a crazy queen planning on marrying me to her slave-owner, space frat-boy, prince of a son and I had to hijack it. Easy as pie if you ask me,” Lena retorts and Kara feels proud of her friend for holding her ground in front of the man of steel. 

“Enough. Superman, step away from the engine and let Miss Luthor have a look at it,” J’onn orders and Kara can already hear her cousin take a breath to protest.

“Clark, don’t argue. We don’t have time for this. I’m going in the warehouse where we think Kerl-Yara is and as soon as we have her, we’ll bring her your way. The ship better be ready to go by then,” Kara intervenes before Kal-El can even speak and then she clicks her earpiece off.

“Nice job,” J’onn praises her. Still, he stays on the comms, because one of them has too.

“He’s such a pain in the ass, sometimes …” Kara mutters and if J’onn is surprised to hear her swear, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he gestures to the warehouse below their feet and asks “Shall we?” 

Kara sighs and then nods.

\---

It doesn’t go as planned.

Kara thinks she should have called Cat before going into the building, as she barrels through three mountains of containers before digging a hole in the wall as it stops her journey across the warehouse. Some consequent bits of concrete fall with her and land on the floor around her body, creating an ocean of white dust. 

Just as she stands back up, her bones cracking ever so slightly after having being shaken up a little, she ducks and rolls over to avoid the half of a ripped in two container that flies right at her. 

Kerl-Yara speaks again but the words coming out of her mouth doesn’t sound like anything Kara knows. It’s harsh and rude, made of more consonants than vowels and it’s as blunt as the sound of a whip cracking. 

J’onn seems as clueless as her, all the way on the other side of the warehouse, standing up after having being tossed up and down for a few minutes by a superpowered and super-pissed off alien. He is a green martian and she is a Kryptonian but the two of them aren’t enough to face the red-haired fury floating in the middle of the warehouse.

She’s beautiful, Kara noticed before the alien started to throw them around like vulgar toys. 

Taller than most humans, she is wearing a very fitted and simple black jumpsuit that creates a stark contrast with her white skin and makes her bright red hair stand out against the monochromatic shades. She wears her hair down and it’s long enough to reach the bottom of her shoulder blades, despite the electric waves and lost curls here and there. 

She’s beautiful but she’s damaged, in more ways than one. Her face bears the chiseled features of a noble lineage but there are scars all over it, deep and reddish, crossing in multiple places over her chin, her cheeks, her forehead and her jaw. The marks are black and crimson, stitched haphazardly in some places and it makes the woman’s face look like a broken doll’s, with a myriad of porcelain pieces glued together in a poor attempt at fixing it. 

Her eyes aren’t blue, like the standard color of her race. One of them is almost entirely white, with some shades of yellow that betrays a blinding disease but the other one is as red as fresh blood and depending on the lighting, it almost looks entirely black. 

She looks as crazy as she seems to be and Kara feels uncomfortable around that much red. It brings back memories of her Red Kryptonite episode and it’s something she would rather keep buried deep in her soul.

The woman yells again and this time, her voice breaks through some higher notes. 

“She’s getting angrier,” J’onn alerts her and Kara rolls her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek to avoid being sassy about how ‘captain obvious’ of him the last comment had been. 

She instead settles for a rough “No kidding” before ducking out again, avoiding the flying container door that goes to plant in the wall behind her, betraying the sheer force of the woman’s aim. 

“We need help,” J’onn adds and he sounds sheepish. She narrows her eyes at him and she doesn’t need to read his mind to know what he is thinking.

“No. We are not calling him, I made a promise to Karb-Mork that Superman wouldn’t be a part of the team that went after his commander,” Kara exclaims and flies up to hover above the destroyed containers and wall rumbles.

“We don’t have much choice, she’s stronger than the two of us combined,” J’onn retorts and he, too, takes off to linger a few feet away from the hostile alien. 

She’s floating at equi-distance from either of them, with her strange eyes are glancing back and forth between the girl of steel and the green martien, but doesn’t try to take them down. Kara slowly raises her hands to show that she means no harm, before trying to speak. This time, she chooses to address the Andromedan in Kryptonian. 

“We come in peace, Karb-Mork sent us to find you. Your people need help, Kerl-Yara.”

The woman tilts her head to the side, obviously intrigued by the sound of her own name in a language she seems to recognize. Kara smiles and tries again.

“Your ship landed in the desert and the people you care for, they need your help to go back into space. They’re going to die, if you don’t go back to them. You are going to die too, the air on this planet is toxic for your physiology,” Kara takes her time and enunciates every word as distinctly as she can, remembering Andromedan isn’t the same as Kryptonian. 

Red hair flows around the marred face of Kerl-Yara, bright and aflame with the sunlight filtering through the many holes they punched in the ceilings during the short but very intense fight. Kara thinks it looks like the Andromedan’s head is on fire.

“You Zor-El’s daughter.” 

The voice is guttural, raspy and it sounds short of breath, but the words are spoken in a rough Kryptonian. Despite the mistake and the wrong accent, hearing her own language coming from another lost alien sends a wave of warmth through Kara’s body. 

“I am, yes. Kara Zor-El, last daughter of Krypton,” Kara nods and bows her head, thinking that as far as introductions go, she’s rocking this one. 

Kerl-Yara seems to think for a few seconds. She doesn’t move though and Kara thinks it’s a good sign that she isn’t trying to take them down. She chooses to see the change as an improvement. 

“Your planet, dead …” 

Supergirl swallows and then nods again, meeting Kerl-Yara’s only good eye. Deep down, under the swirling shades of crimson red, behind the apparent emptiness of a look more ancient than the universe itself, Kara sees a spark of compassion. It’s dim and fragile, like the flame of a candle in the middle of a winter storm, but it’s there.

“I am sorry, for the loss,” Kerl-Yara then says, grief rolling off her tongue with the delicate Kryptonian vowels. It’s a little harsh, a little blunt and still incorrect but it’s something. She sounds genuinely empathetic and her red eye slowly lightens, enough for Kara to discern the crimson iris from the china-ink pupil. 

“Thank you, Kerl-Yara. I am sorry too, for your world,” Kara replies, feeling her heart drop in her chest as she realizes they are just two survivors lost in the immensity of the universe. They look into one another’s eyes and without a single world being said, they quietly share the weight of that realization. 

They are all alone. 

Despite how many Andromedans survived, and despite Kal-El’s presence on earth, they are the last two heiresses of dead bloodlines and they will forever be haunted by worlds that no longer exist. They will carry the ruins of their planets, of a whole galaxy even, within their souls for the remainder of their lives. 

“No! Superman, STAND DOWN!”

J’onn’s yell brings Kara back from her trance.

She didn’t even realize she has flown up to Kerl-Yara during their shared moment, not until she feels the force of the Andromedan’s grip around her wrists. 

She looks up into the woman’s eye and then time freezes.

Flashbacks of a luxurious galaxy flow before her eyes. Images of a palace made of gold and marble, with white curtains flowing ever so gently around the many windows, under a soft breeze. Men and women with flamboyant red hair and deep blue eyes smile and laugh as they go from room to room and along the corridors, without a care in the world. She thinks she hears some music but the instruments don’t sound like anything she knows. It’s sweet and tender, like a love song addressed to no one in particular. 

She then hears the thunder, loud and threatening, making the ground tremble and crack. Suddenly, the palace crumbles and falls. Ruins take over, flames licking the base of the broken marble pillars and the music is gone, replaced with the screaming of a dying people. Everything is red and grey, black even. 

Kara sees a hand holding an incandescent blade, a strange one. It’s curved like a scythe but the inside of the weapon is serrated, it’s rough and it looks hand-made. She hears a scream, one that pierces her eardrums but she doesn’t have time to process the pain because she then feels the claws of the blade dig into her cheeks and cut, ripping the skin open in multiple spots at once.

After a flash of bright red, the scream stops and the pains does as well, rather abruptly. It’s quiet, all of a sudden. Disturbingly so, Kara briefly thinks before the image of a planet slowly comes to focus before her eyes. It looks like Earth, big and blue with dark patches where some ground must be but it’s not bathed into a yellow light. Instead, the planet is glowing from within with some sort of dark purple halo.

A voice whispers into her ears; “home” and the echo never ends, invading her mind, her heart, her soul and it’s overwhelming, intense and she suddenly feels overloaded.

The next thing she knows, time starts again and she’s falling.

She falls but her own body feels light and soft, as if she was but a feather caught in the summer wind. Above her, she sees dark shadows fighting and she hears a familiar slapping sound that echoes in her ears. She knows the noise; it’s the one her cape makes when it’s trapped in two currents of air.

She looks up as she plummets to the ground and all she see is red hair, a red cape and then there’s blood, darker than it should be, dripping from one of the shadows high above. 

Then, the whole world fades into darkness.


	5. CHAPTER 5

Kara wakes up to the sound of a familiar heartbeat, one she knows better than even her own. 

She doesn’t open her eyes, because she has a feeling it would cause some kind of pain, but she still calls out, tentatively. 

“Cat?” 

Her voice is rough and raspy, she practically feels the single syllable drag across the side of her tight throat before it rolls off her lips.

“Thank God, you’re awake!”

Cat’s tone is relieved and Kara picks up on the shifting noise of relaxing muscles as the tension ease away from the woman’s shoulders. It’s subtle but Kara is now perfectly attuned to Cat’s body so she hears the hum of her heart as it slightly slows down, as well as the tiny breath that passes Cat’s lips as she finishes talking.

“Oh great! Does that mean I’m off the hook now?” 

Alex’s voice echoes in the distance, before the neat sound of footsteps alerts Kara that her sister is approaching. She sounds pissed off, Kara realizes.

“I swear to God Kara, it’s like you pull that kind of crap on purpose for Cat to start yelling at me,” Alex grumbles and when Cat doesn’t retort, Kara figures that whatever happened to her must have been pretty bad indeed.

She takes a deep breath and then tries to open her eyes. She’s instantly assaulted by the too-bright halo of her sunbed lighting, so it takes three more tries before she can keep them open before she can finally face her lover and her sister.

“I … what the hell happened to me?” Kara frowns, as her last memories start to flood her mind. “There was an Andromedan ship … they crashed and we found them, six of them ... They are allergic to our air and we needed to find … their commander, it’s a woman … Winn located her, by the port, the warehouse … “ 

She closes her eyes again and takes a shuddering breath, reviving the way Kerl-Yara had thrown her across the whole building like a vulgar piece of paper. She can still hear the sound of her body meeting a concrete wall, the rumbles falling down around her silhouette.

“I remember now … We were trying to talk Kerl-Yara into coming with us peacefully …” 

Two heartbeats suddenly quicken and Kara opens her eyes, slowly moving them back and forth in between Cat and Alex. The first one is looking at her with worry in her evergreen eyes but her sister is not meeting her gaze. 

“Alex, what happened to Kerl-Yara?” 

She manages to croak the question but a dreadful feeling is already settling in the pit of her stomach. She feels a chill go down her spine and she almost shrug it off because Kryptonian don’t get cold sweat, it’s just not physically possible. And yet …

“I’m so sorry, Kara. Kal-El thought … he thought she was hurting you. You were holding onto one another and you had your eyes rolled back in your head … He panicked …” Alex explains and Kara swallows, hard. She doesn’t want to hear the rest of the story but she can’t seem to move, she can’t speak either. She looks at her sister, horror slowly painting her features, but she can’t do anything.

Alex swallows and meets her sister’s gaze for the first time since Kara woke up. Kara’s eyes are wide, wild even, and she tries to tell Alex not to say it out loud but it doesn’t work. Alex swallows and finishes her explanation. 

“She was … she was somehow weaker than when you and J’onn fought her and … He used heat-vision, thinking it would just put her down so he could quietly bring her into the DEO … It … It killed her, instead.”

Silence follows the last few words.

For the first time in her life, Kara suddenly experiences real silence.

Even Cat and Alex’s heartbeats don’t reach through the thick fog that seems to surround her body like a cotton bubble. She can’t hear a single sound and her own mind is quiet, blank and devoid of any thought. It should be running wild with panic, denial, anger, grief even but it’s not. It’s empty and she feels nothing at all. 

She is vaguely aware that Cat has grabbed her hand at some point but she can’t bring herself to squeeze back. She feels numb and the silence drags on, even though she can see Alex’s lips move, but she doesn’t care. 

Time slows down around her and Kara doesn’t move. 

She can see the worry in Cat’s eyes, the guilt and the regret etched all over Alex’s features but she can’t bring herself to speak, not yet anyway. 

Eventually, she does say something and it comes out a little too bluntly.

“What are you doing here?” 

She looks at Cat and adds “You were on your way to Paris, last time we spoke … How long have I been out for?” 

If Cat is hurts by the question, she doesn’t show it and simply answers it.

“A few hours but when Alex called to update me … I demanded to be brought in and your cousin came to pick me up as soon as I landed.” 

The mere thought of Kal-El’s arms around Cat’s figure made Kara’s skin crawl. She can’t help it but to see her cousin’s hands, covered with thick, dark blood, holding onto Cat’s waist and she lurches forward to grab a basin, right on time to throw up. 

“Oh my gosh, Kara are you alright?” 

Alex fusses a little with her medical equipment before coming to stand next to her sister, handing her a plastic cup filled with water. She looks terrified and Kara can understand, since she is supposed to be invincible, indestructible and especially immune to all the human diseases that would cause such a strong reaction.

“Peachy,” Kara sarcastically answers, the acidic taste of bile invading her mouth as she speaks, and she pushes the soiled basin away before gratefully accepting the water. She gulps it down in no time and then adds “Never been better.” 

Cold sarcasm drips from her tone and she brusquely flinches away from Cat’s hand when it want to curl around her shoulder.

“Just, don’t. Don’t,” she orders, taking a deep breath to try and steady herself. 

She feels like all of a sudden, every emotion that had been noticeably absent until now was coming at her full force, filling her mind, her heart and her very soul with what feels like a raging war. 

“Could you … could you give me a minute? Please?” Kara swallows and she tries, she really tries to meet Cat’s eyes to show that she doesn’t mean to hurt her. 

For a few seconds, Cat doesn’t say anything and Kara doesn’t look away. She knows Cat is trying to figure out if she should indeed leave her alone or if it is one of those times where she needs to stay, so Kara doesn’t shy away from her intent gaze.

In the end, Cat nods and slowly stands up from the medical stool she had been sitting on by Kara’s sunbed. She doesn’t move right away though and when Kara arches a questioning brow, Cat simply smiles and leans over, dropping a gentle kiss on her forehead. It eases away some of her guilt and Kara even manages to smile back at her lover. It’s broken and filled with angst but Cat seems to take it anyway.

Alex follows after Cat and closes the door behind her, leaving Kara alone.

\---

She doesn’t know how long it’s been, when she hears the door of the medical bay open and close. 

She’s laying on the sunbed with her eyes closed, after having set it up to a lower level than the one required to rouse her from her comatose state, and she doesn’t have to look up to know who it is. 

She thinks she would have recognized her without listening for the heartbeat as Cat’s high heels clack on the stone floor, approaching the sunbed rather slowly. 

The sound stops but Kara still doesn’t open her eyes. 

She feels warm enough, under the artificial sunlight and she knows that reality is just a blink away, with its unfair share of painful emotions. She wants to stay numb and empty for a little while longer.

Fingers gently brush over her cheeks, gentle and soft. They slowly trail all the way down her jawline to reach her chin and then soft lips touch her own. It’s barely a caress but it draws a sigh out of Kara.

“Please don’t ask me to go,” Cat’s voice is a whisper that lands on her now wet lips and Kara feels a little guilty for the insecurity she can hear underneath the words. 

She simply shakes her head no and that earns another kiss, slightly more grounded than the previous one but it’s still as brief.

“Move over a little?” 

It’s not really a question, despite the voice rising at the end of the sentence, so Kara shuffles to the other side of the bed and lets Cat climbs on the spot next to her. Within moments, Cat is wrapped around her flank and Kara puts an arm around her before resting her chin atop her lover’s head, still refusing to open her eyes. 

She can feel Cat’s heartbeat against the fabric of her suit, calm and regular despite some hitches from time to time, happening whenever Kara’s fingers brush over the delicate curve of her hip. 

“Can you tell me about her?” 

The question is quiet, a whisper against the skin of her neck but it still makes Kara’s heart squeeze, rather painfully.   
She understands that Cat is trying to make her talk and she is grateful for the absence of condolences but she’s not sure she is ready to share her grief just yet. She doesn’t even know how to explain it, in all honesty. Even to herself, she doesn’t know how to justify the violence of her emotions over the death of an alien she didn’t even know. 

“I don’t know, Cat. I’m not sure I understand,” Kara sighs.

Cat presses further into her flank and it’s her way to push, Kara knows. 

They have been together for a long time now and Kara understands every twitch of Cat’s skin, every jump in her heartbeat, she knows where to press to calm her down and she also how which buttons to push to turn her on. 

“She’s … She was, the last one of the royal bloodline that ruled the Andromedan Galaxy for … I don’t know exactly how long. Andromeda existed and died long before I was born and it was already an empty space across the universe when I heard rumors about what had happened to it,” Kara starts and she keeps her eyes closed, images of a marble and flowing curtains flashing before her eyelashes. “The king refused any help from outsiders and as a result, the whole galaxy died. Planet after planet, people died of hunger or despair, when they were not murdered for some shred of food. In the end, the main planet exploded and Kerl-Yara …”

Kara stops and breathes, slowly. In and out and she feels tears prickle underneath her closed eyelids. Still, she keeps on speaking.

“Kerl-Yara, she rebelled against her father, the king. She wanted to save her world, her people, but he exiled her to a planet full of criminals. I heard about that planet, back on Krypton, it was famous for being the lair of the scum of the universe and she was stranded there for Rao knows how long … before she escaped. She went back to Andromeda, right before the explosion and she tried to save as many of her people as she could.” 

Kara takes another deep breath before whispering “Six. She saved six Andromedans and they are all that is left of a race that once occupied a whole galaxy.” 

Cat doesn’t say anything. Her fingers move across Kara’s collarbone and trace patterns that feels random. She’s listening.

“We scared her, when we went to find her by the port, in the old warehouse. She thought we meant to harm her and so she defended herself. She was … she was beautiful, Cat.” Kara explains and there is a tiny smile at the corner of her lips. “She was tall and fierce, with her bright red hair and her pure white skin … She carried herself like someone who grew up in a palace and you could tell, just by looking at her, that she could have been a great queen.“

Kara thinks Kerl-Yara would have saved the whole Andromeda galaxy, if she had been given a chance while there was still time. 

“She was damaged, though. Her face … It looked like a broken porcelain doll’s face, with ugly black scars maring her features and making her look scarier than she actually was. One of her eyes was blank, I think she was blind on that side but the other one was dark red, the color of running blood.” Cat shudders against her flank but she doesn’t say anything.

“Whatever happened to her on that planet full of criminals … It wasn’t pretty. I … I experienced it, through some kind of trance we shared before … Anyway,” Kara trails off abruptly and doesn’t let Cat speak, already pursuing her story. “She thought we were attacking and at some point, J’onn wanted to call for Superman’s help.”

The name of her cousin is acid in her mouth, loaded with anger but she doesn’t dwell on it just now. 

“I refused and I tried to speak to her, in Kryptonian. I don’t know how to speak Andromedan, aside from a few greeting words but … my language is similar to theirs and she understood. She knew who I was and she said …” She takes a breath as she remembers the how genuine the words had sounded, rolling off from Kerl-Yara’s mouth in a hatched Kryptonian. 

“She said she was sorry for the loss of my world.”

Cat’s arms tighten around her silhouette and Kara wishes she could feel the force of the embrace. She often regrets her super strength when she’s with Cat and even though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, the days where she blows up her powers are precious to her.

“What did you mean, about the trance?” 

That almost draws a smile to Kara’s lips. 

Cat was and still is, at soul, a journalist, a damn good one and as such, she always knows what questions to ask, which buttons to push to get answers. She was ruthless, back when she had her own talk show and was hosting rising celebrities and people that would become important on the political stage. Kara still watches those videos sometimes, she had a whole rewatch marathon when someone, bless their soul, uploaded all the seasons online. 

“That’s … I actually have no idea what happened exactly. She said she was sorry and she was speaking Kryptonian. I was … emotional, I guess. I didn’t even realize I had floated up to her, not until J’onn yelled at Superman to stand down. That’s when I noticed how close we were … She was holding my wrists and when I looked into her eyes …” Kara wonders how she is supposed to explain the images she saw. She doesn’t know how it could actually happen, since she is impervious to mind reading and all kind of telepathic abilities.

“I saw … pieces of her memory. At least, that’s what I think it was. I saw the Andromedan palace, made of marble and gold. I could hear the people laugh, carefree and happy. There was music even, with instruments unlike anything I know. Then, a storm happened and it was all ruins, crumbled marble, calcined stone and raging fire. It was … upsetting, but then another memory happened and I think it was when she got her scars. I saw the blade, felt it dig into the skin and the pain was …” 

At this point, Cat is trembling against Kara’s flank but she still doesn’t talk. Kara brings her other arm to close her embrace around her lover, bringing them closer.

“The pain was excruciating. I think … I don’t know for sure but I think that’s what caused me to pass out.”

Kara feels Cat move but she still refuses to open her eyes. She doesn’t want to fall into Cat’s hazel eyes because she isn’t sure of what’s in there, and the doesn’t want to find out.

Cat’s lips are demanding and strong against hers this time, they expect an answer. Kara instinctively moves her hand to hold Cat’s face, keeping her close as she deepens the kiss. She tries to convince herself this isn’t pity or compassion, that it has more to do with fear but a nasty voice in her head tells her otherwise.

She breaks the kiss as gently as she can and finally brings herself to open her eyes.

“I love you,” Cat says once she meets Kara’s eyes and the words are soft and simple, plain. There are no undertones to them, for it is just raw love.

“I love you too, Cat. Thank you,” Kara answers and she manages a smile, one that is genuine despite how broken and sad she truly feels. Cat smiles and dismisses the thanks with a flourish of her hand, her signature move. 

They stay silent for a little while longer, Cat snuggling back against Kara’s flank and Kara enjoying the warmth of the artificial sunlight. 

“Do you think you are ready to face your sister? She’s been pacing outside since you first asked us to leave …”

Cat’s breath against her neck is light but Kara knows she expects an answer. 

“Can I have one more minute?” 

She feels Cat places a kiss at the base of her neck before she settles back, with her head underneath Kara’s chin.

\---

Kerl-Yara looks peaceful, with her eyes closed and her arms crossed respectfully on her chest. 

Her features are soft and relaxed and without the intensity of her strange gaze, the scars on her face seem dimmed and not as intense as Kara first saw them.   
Her bright red hair forms a halo around her head, supple waves of fire that still shine underneath the neon light of the DEO’s cold chamber. 

Kara stands next to the body and she keeps her voice low and grave as she murmurs prayers from another time. The Kryptonian words roll off her tongue with an ease that feels almost painful, given the context. 

She hears the door open and close behind her and after a second, she recognizes the heartbeat and tenses. Anger floods her and blinds her eyes, she balls her hands into fists and then growls.

“Get out.” 

Behind her, the footsteps pause for a few seconds before resuming their course and Superman comes to stand on the other side of Kerl-Yara’s corpse. 

He looks pale, paler than usual and his eyes are dark with regret and remorse. He doesn’t stand very straight and his usual poise is absent from his posture. If anything, he looks slumped and even his usually perfect hair looks messy, ruffled up. 

She grits her teeth and asks him to leave again.

“I … I came here to pay my respects,” Kal-El whispers, as if afraid of speaking out loud. 

“To the woman you ruthlessly killed because you didn’t trust me? You have no right. Get out, Clark,” she spits his human name like the insult it suddenly is. 

He flinches and winces but he doesn’t move and Kara is losing patience.

“I never wanted to … I never meant to kill her, Kara. You have to believe that I am not a murderer.”

Kara notices his voice sounds broken and as she let her gaze lingers on his features, she realizes he is shaking. She knows her cousin isn’t a killer, she knows he despises violence as much as she does and she has witnessed his kindness and generosity too many time to doubt that Kerl-Yara’s death was anything but an accident. 

Still, it doesn’t change the fact the Andromedan commander is dead and that it is his fault. 

“I know,” Kara answers, cooly. Her words don’t seem to ease Kal-El’s guilt and the way he is looking at the dead body in between them tells Kara he will never get over it. It’s a tragedy that will always haunts his memory and his dreams, something that will keep him awake at night and make him doubt in the face of danger. 

“It was an accident, I know that but if you had just trusted me, if you hadn’t interfered, she would still be alive and she would be leading the last survivors of her people to a planet they could settle on and then call home,” Kara adds, her voice breaking a little on the last word. “It was an accident, but one we could have easily avoided and now … now she’s dead and there are six Andromedans in stasis who you probably condemned to die as well.” 

Superman doesn’t answer and Kara watches in silence as an orphan tear escapes her cousin’s eyes, rolling down his face before dripping from his chin. She can’t even bring herself to feel bad for him and a part of her knows she probably should. She knows that if it had happened to her, she would want someone to stand by her side and tell her that everything would be alright, eventually.

Except she can’t be this person for him. Because this time, the consequences are too heavy, too drastic, for it is going to provoke the final extinction of an entire race. 

“I need you to leave, Clark,” Kara’s voice is more gentle this time. She still can’t bring herself to use his original name but she’s more at peace now. “I need you to go back home and to stay away for a while. I’ll come around, you and I both know I will but I need time, first.”

Superman nods and then looks down at Kerl-Yara’s face. His Kryptonian is rusty and rough, it’s the broken sound of a child that never learned his mother tongue but he tries and recites the rites that allow a body to find Rao’s light. Kara wants to stop him, to tell him only a woman can pronounce those sacred words but he is silently tearing up and choking on his words from time to time and so she lets him finish. 

Once he is done, he looks at her and something passes in between their eyes. 

He isn’t asking for forgiveness, because he knows it’s something he will have to give himself first, but he is asking if she will come back to him. She doesn’t know the answer to his question yet, so she gently shakes her head and he seems to understand. 

He nods and then walks away, leaving her alone with the dead commander.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,
> 
> Since I really don't have a lot of time to write lately, I'm giving you one of the already written and edited chapters of this fic. It's not much but hopefully, it's going to tie you guys over before the next chapter of Castle on the hill, or maybe Those old country lanes ...
> 
> As always, reviews are welcome !


	6. CHAPTER 6

“What’s the update on your side?” 

Kara paces back and forth in between the desks, her cape fluttering angrily with each step she takes. 

“They are all back in stasis mode and we checked via the pod’s controls and none of them are infected, which means they are safe for as long as they stay in their current state,” Lena’s voice comes through the speakers, clear and calm. “I am still working on trying to alter the ship’s commands to allow us to remotely launch it back to space but so far, no such luck.”

Alex is studying the ship’s blueprints on the screens and Winn is fervently typing away at his keyboard, providing Lena with instructions as he works his way through the complicated mechanics and the even more complicated commands of the ship. 

“Alright, the most important thing is that they are all safe, for now,” Kara sighs, but she’s worried and it shows on her usually steely features. 

“I may not be able to read your mind, but I know you’re thinking of something and from the look in your eyes, I am definitely certain I do not like whatever idea you want to try,” J’onn chimes in as he climbs down the stairs that lead to the balcony, on which he had just landed.

“What idea?” Alex asks and she’s frowning, her hazelnut eyes moving from Kara to J’onn to the screens with the ship’s specs sprawled on. 

“Yes darling, what idea?” Cat adds, sashaying her way into the DEO’s center of operation like she owes the place. She’s looking regal, in that same dress she was wearing for breakfast that very morning. 

Kara suddenly realizes that not much time has gone by since everything unfolded, yet she feels like it was forever ago that she was in the penthouse’s kitchen, making pancakes for Carter and Cat. 

“What does the President say?” Kara asks instead of answering and she can tell, by the glimmer of annoyance that crosses Cat’s eyes, that she won’t get away with this so easily.

“She offers her condolences and she’s asking us to find a solution to send the Andromedans back to space. She doesn’t want them to settle on Earth, despite my arguing, so there is no need for you to spend more energy on finding a cure,” Cat turns to Alex as she speaks and the older Danvers grits her teeth but doesn’t reply. 

“Easier said than done,” Lena’s voice echoes again in the room and Cat arches a surprised brow.

“She’s on speaker; I was asking her to update me on the situation inside of the ship,” Kara explains quickly, before Cat has the time to ask.

“Very well, and what is the situation inside of the ship then?” Cat raises her voice, clearly asking for Lena to bring her up to speed. 

“As I said, our Andromedan guests are all back in stasis mode and they are safe for as long as they stay in that state. However, I can’t seem to alter the commands to make it possible for us to remotely launch the ship back into space, which is the main issue at the moment,” Lena replies dutifully, for Cat’s benefit. 

“Thank you, Lena. Now, what is it about this idea of yours J’onn isn’t too happy about?” 

Kara knows that when her lover wants something, she gets it and right now, Cat wants an answer. She just doesn’t feel comfortable with sharing her idea just yet, because it is still an embryo of a solution, something she needs time to build and develop before she can bring it before anyone else.

“How about you leave me until tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about it? I need time to think it through,” Kara eludes and Cat glares at her, a mixture of authority and curiosity that makes Supergirl feels uncomfortable. Still, she stands her ground and arches a brow.

“Very well,” Cat relents but she’s clearly unhappy about it, just like Alex and J’onn. Even Lucy doesn’t seem to like it, but they all let it slide for now.

“Sorry to intrude in what seems like a very awkward moment for our beloved superhero here but Supergirl, could you bring Winn back? It would be easier for the both of us to work together on the commands …” Lena interrupts and Kara never felt more grateful for her friendship with the Luthor heiress, despite the amused sass. 

“Sure thing, Lena. We’ll be there in a few,” Supergirl answers and then ends the phone call.

“When you come back, do you think we can go pick up Carter and go back home?” 

Cat’s question takes Kara by surprise and she blinks.

“Don’t you need to go back to Paris, for the climate summit?” 

“Olivia says it’s being pushed back to next month. Something about a crisis in France’s political landscape that’s preventing the President from attending the meeting and since he’s the host …” Cat answers with a dismissive move of her wrist.

“Ah, yes, I heard about it. Snapper said he wanted me to reach out to my French sources to find some facts for when it inevitably blows up and reaches our country,” Kara nods and then thinks back on Cat’s first question.

“Sure, we’ll go get Carter. Susan will be delighted to be released from her babysitting duties.”

Alex snorts behind her and Kara throws her a meaningful glare, one that doesn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever. 

“Would you like to come by for dinner, Alex? I am going to invite Sam anyway, to thank her for looking after my son,” Cat adds then and Kara’s head snaps back up to face Cat. She looks at her lover intently, trying to convey that she doesn’t want to see Sam but Cat just ignores her and waits for Alex’s answer.

“Oh, thanks! I think that would be great, but asks Sam first, I think she has plans with Ruby tonight,” Alex replies before walking up to Lucy, instantly falling into a deep conversation about the alien spaceship. 

“Why did you do that? Is it because I don’t want to talk about my idea just yet?” Kara whispers, trying to hide the fact she is profoundly annoyed by Cat’s invitation to have Sam at dinner later today.

“No darling, this isn’t about you. This is about thanking Sam for always being ready to take on Carter whenever we are both unavailable,” Cat answers, and she means it, Kara can tell. Still, it doesn’t chase away the annoyance.

“I don’t want to have to be civilized tonight,” Kara sighs. “I know Sam is not to blame for any of what happened before but ... but Reign was Kryptonian. She spoke my language and she took it upon herself to use Rao’s principles to justify her destruction of National City. I know, I know it’s not on Sam but after today … I don’t know if I can take it.” 

Cat stays quiet for a few seconds before answering, as gently as she can.

“I am sorry about today, Kara, I truly am. I understand your reservations and I agree with them, wholly. Still, Carter genuinely likes Sam and Ruby and I think, after today, he deserves to enjoy having them and his family around for a nice, homemade meal.”

Kara thinks Cat is being unfair. She knows Carter would be just as happy enjoying dinner with just his mother and herself and Cat using her son as an excuse to invite Sam and Ruby makes her feel angry.

“I’m going to take Winn to the ship and if I can, I will help them,” she decides and she pulls her phone from her boot, sending a quick message to someone. She waits for the answer before facing Cat again, her voice even and neutral. 

“I just texted Devon, the car will be waiting for you in less than five minutes, so you can go pick up Carter and I’ll join you both at home once I’m done.”

“Kara, wait, that’s not …” 

“Don’t worry Cat, I know you mean well and you’re probably right. Carter will love having a nice meal with you, Alex, Ruby and Sam but honestly, I am just too tired to pretend, tonight. I’ll see you both later,” Kara moves to drop a quick kiss on Cat’s forehead before walking away and toward the balcony, where Winn is already waiting for her.

She scoops him up and then takes off into the sky without looking back.

\---

“Are you going to answer her? She’s been blowing up my phone and Winn’s for the last half an hour and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to find out what she will do to us when we finally find ourselves in her presence, after ignoring her like we are …” Lena says and while she sounds matter-of-fact, she does look a little afraid. 

Lena and Cat got off on the wrong foot, when Cat decided to come back. 

The Luthor heiress didn’t let Cat buy CatCo back right away and she also warned Kara, multiple times, not to let the former CEO break her heart again. It took quite some time for Lena to admit having romantic feelings for the girl of steel, of which they talked about at length but Kara explained that the love of her life had always been Cat and probably always would be. 

After that, Lena finally let go of CatCo, selling it back to its rightful owner to go back to her own company but still, there was a lot of tension between the two CEOs and even today, they avoided being alone in a room together. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kara answers and she can feel Winn’s eyes burning holes in her back. He is terrified of what Cat could do to him, still after all those years and despite the fact he is no longer one of her employees. 

“I don’t mean to pry but Kara, ignoring her will only make it harder for you both to work it out later, whatever this is,” Lena insists and she means well, Kara knows that. It still annoys the hell out of her that her best friend is trying to give her relationship advice. 

“I said, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine. Whatever, be your stubborn self but don’t come running to me when it blows up in your face, Supergirl,” Lena finally lets go of the topic and focuses on the complicated set of commands in front of her.

The spaceship dashboard is complex and it has been designed by a race with far more knowledge than humans. Kara can understand some commands and get the general idea but she still can’t figure out how to override the manual setup that will allow them to plug in a device of Winn’s creation and to pilot the ship from Earth. 

“Alright, let’s see if we can shut down the manual mode to see what takes over …”

“Are you kidding me? Don’t you think we tried that already? Kara I love you, I do but you’re as useful as Superman was, right now,” Lena exclaims and the words sting. It’s not meant as an insult but she surely takes it as such.

“You know what? I am tired of people telling me what to do, what to think, how to feel. I am going to take a long flight around the globe and when I come back, you better have a solution to the problem,” Kara growls and Lena glares right back at her.

She scoffs and then super-speeds her way out of the ship, taking off into the sky and shutting off her phone as she does so.

\---

She flies and flies and flies around the world without stopping anywhere. 

She briefly considers spending the night at the Fortress of Solitude but it’s really more of Superman’s lair than hers. She also thinks it will make her feel even more lonely, to be surrounded by so many Kryptonian reminders. 

She doesn’t understand why no one seems to get her, after what she’s been through today. She wonders if she’s being immature or dramatic or if it’s the others who are the problem, but the result is that she feels like she doesn’t belong anymore. 

Cat used to be her solace whenever she felt at a loss in the world, like a rock and a port at once, a home. For the first time in a long, long time, she finds herself disappointed in Cat and it’s making her feel even more lost now. 

She knows Alex is the closest person to understand what today has been like for her but Alex is also deeply, maddeningly in love with Sam and Kara can’t help but be wary of the former worldkiller. She doesn’t mean to but it’s putting some distance in between her sister and herself and she mourns the loss of that profound and deep relationship they used to have. She misses the time when she could just show up at Alex’s door and crash for the night. 

Rationally, she knows it’s no-one’s fault, really. 

She knows she will always carry the feeling of loneliness around without ever been understood about it, it goes with being the last Kryptonian survivor. 

She isn’t counting Kal-El, because she is still incredibly mad at him and also because he didn’t grow up on the planet she used to call home. 

“Kara, I swear to god if you don’t call Cat I am going to murder her.” 

Alex’s voice is loud and angry and it startles her so much she jumps and then crashes into the ocean, above which she has been flying for the past two hours. 

“What was that?”

Kara swims to the surface and launches herself into the sky, sputtering and shaking her limbs to get rid of the water. 

“You startled me, I fell into the ocean … How did you even manage to turn my comms back on, I thought I had shut them down!”

“Well yes, but this is an emergency. You better let Cat know you’re fine or else, there goes my sanity!” Alex does sound angry but Kara also hears the relief behind the anger.

“I need to be alone for a little while longer, Alex. Why can’t anyone understand that? I mean, I am an alien and I can hear the whole world, I am used to being constantly surrounded by people, don’t I deserve a little peace and quiet from time to time?” Kara grumbles, half-asking and half-stating.

“Well, let’s put aside the fact you sound slightly too whiny for my liking, what’s up kiddo?” 

It’s been a long time since Alex called her that and it makes Kara smile, despite herself. She super-speeds her way atop the Burj Al Arab in Dubaï and settles in, legs dangling from the edge of the building as she watches the sun sink into the ocean.

She tells Alex everything. 

Alex listens and sometimes, she asks questions but for the most part, she simply lends an attentive ear to her little sister.

Kara talks about feeling lonely, about missing Krypton, about feeling heartbroken over Kerl-Yara’s death. She tells Alex all about Kal-El and his humanity, about how mad she is at him and how she doesn’t know if she will ever be able to forgive him. She wonders out loud why Cat doesn’t seem to understand how much the day has shaken her up, how deeply it has dug into her roots and left unhealed wounds wide open. She mentions Lena and how she thinks she has some nerve to try to give her relationship advice after the fall out they had when Lena admitted her feelings for Kara. 

She tells Alex everything except for how she feels about Sam, because she loves her sister too much and she has learned, the hard way sometimes, that some truths aren’t worth telling. 

“As much as I love being your person, the one you talk to when something isn’t right … Deep down you know you should tell all of that to Cat, don’t you?” 

Alex’s voice is kind, soft and gentle. She means it and she’s not even sad or bitter about it, Kara notices. She seems at peace with the fact Cat has become just as important as she is in her little sister’s life. 

“I know but I am kind of mad at her too, you know. I know she’s trying and I know she didn’t mean to hurt me, I think she thought of Carter first and I am fine with this. I mean, Carter comes first for me too, whatever happens, but I expected more … compassion, maybe. I expected she would at least not dismiss my feelings …” Kara realizes Alex doesn’t exactly know what happened between Cat and herself, the very reason Kara felt like she had to go.

“It’s because she invited Sam, isn’t it?” 

Or, maybe she does. Kara swallows against the guilty lump in her throat before whispering yes.

“It’s alright Kara, I know you try, most of the time. That’s all I am asking of you, regarding Sam, you know that right? I also get that after today, spending the night exchanging niceties with someone you still somehow see as an evil Kryptonian might be hard,” Alex explains and Kara strains her ears to catch a hitch in her voice, a shaking that would betray she is hurt. There is none and her heartbeat is calm and quiet. She isn’t lying.

“I … See, you get it and you live with Sam. Why can’t Cat?” 

“Because Cat, as much as she tries, didn’t grow up with you. She knows the importance of Krypton in your heart and mind but she never really witnessed it, aside from the sneak peek whenever Clark is around and when some aliens remind you of home,” Alex explains, taking her time to articulate the words. It slows her diction and soothes Kara’s feelings. 

“I was there when you had to let go of all you knew and all you loved to adapt to life on Earth. I used to climb into your bed at night to hold you, when your cries would get too loud or too violent. I had to correct you, over and over and over again when you would just speed your way through maths and come up with answers light years ahead of our time and I distinctly remember teaching you how to use a car without thinking it would fly …”

Kara chuckles and then protests “But look, in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the car does fly and it’s not even a movie about the future!” 

Alex laughs as well, on the other side of the ear piece. Kara loves Alex’s laughter, it’s deep and rich and genuine.

“Yes well, it’s still a movie and movies aren’t reality. I get that it must feel weird to you, you’re an alien from outer space so yeah reality might be a concept but still, on Earth, regular cars don’t fly. Then of course, J’onn managed to somehow destroy that simple truth but that’s not the point!” 

They are both laughing and Kara relishes the way it makes her feel. It’s like she has Alex back for a little while, without all the distance that has accumulated in between them for the past few years. 

“So, what I am trying to say is that I am more sensitive to your Kryptonian origins because I saw them, I grew up surrounded by them and Cat … She did not. She can’t understand the depth of your loneliness about that particular topic and I think it’s frustrating her. I think she feels like she isn’t enough somehow, whereas you always know how to be there for her. I might be wrong but it seems to me that she was trying to make you sit in front of a piece of your past that isn’t Clark. Granted, pun intended …” Kara rolls her eyes at the pun. It’s Alex’s favorite since she learned Kara was dating Cat. 

“It wasn’t a good idea and she should really learn to give you some space and time to get used to being around Sam, but in my opinion, she only wanted to offer you the comfort she knows she can’t give you herself.” 

Kara stays silent and ponders about everything her sister just said. It’s a logical explanation after all, for she is more than familiar with how inconsiderate Cat can be sometimes. She doesn’t mean to be, Kara knows that but Cat is always awkward when feelings are involved. She doesn’t know how to express them and while she is better at showing them, she is sometimes very wrong in doing so. 

“It still doesn’t explain why she simply didn’t listen to me when I said no …”

“She’s Cat Grant,” Alex retorts, matter-of-factly. It makes Kara smirk and then sigh, because Alex does have a point. 

“Alright. Can you give me five more minutes of peace? I will call Cat then, to let her know I’m coming home,” Kara says and Alex agrees. 

“I love you Kara. Safe flight and text me when you land, okay?”

“I love you too Alex, and I will,” Kara replies before she hears the beeping sound of the comms going off. 

Night is already setting in around her, bright stars popping up into the deep blue sky as the last shades of sunlight disappear behind the horizon. She closes her eyes and listens to the sound of the sea washing over the sandy beach, sometimes hurtling against the few rocks of the ports and bays nearby. It’s almost quiet, despite the people bustling around everywhere in the city. 

Eventually, she reaches for her phone and turns it on.

It chimes for almost five minutes straight until she can see that she has 36 missed calls and almost twice as many texts. Most of them are from Cat but she sees Carter and Alex’s names as she scrolls down to make sure she didn’t miss anything important. 

Nothing from Lena, she notices and she feels a bit guilty for the way she behaved with her best friend. Winn did send her a text to let her know they hadn’t found a solution yet. 

Kara looks up into the sky and focuses on the space in the night where Krypton should have sparkled. 

There is a feeling creeping into her heart as the idea in her mind slowly forms and shapes itself. It’s heavy and light at once, it’s longing and regret and some kind of messed-up melancholia.

She almost drops her phone when it starts ringing, rather loudly. Cat is calling again. Never let it be said that she isn’t persistent.

“Hi,” Kara answers after picking up. 

“Thank God you finally answered,” comes Cat’s relieved voice. 

“I have to admit, I didn’t think you would relentlessly try to contact me. You usually wait for me to come home to give me the cold shoulder,” Kara points out and she hates the fact she sounds bitter. 

“Half of those calls are from Carter, he didn’t have enough power in his phone so he used mine,” Cat retorts and she sounds a little wounded. 

“I’m sorry,” Kara sighs. She feels exhausted to her bones, and fighting Cat never brings anything good. She’s still mad and disappointed but she figures they should try to talk about it. After all, she once said to Cat that communication was the key to a relationship, so she should follow her own principles.

“You don’t have anything to feel sorry for, Kara. I should be the one apologizing, I tried to push something you didn’t want onto you and I didn’t consider your feelings about it,” Cat says and this time around, she sounds soft and gentle. Kara can even hear the genuine regret in her tone, swirling around the vowels. 

“You did but I should have been more straightforward about why I didn’t want to have dinner with Sam. We may have gotten better at communicating but apparently, it’s still a work in progress,” Kara chuckles quietly.

“Indeed we are, darling. Are you coming home? Sam declined the invitation, it was just me and Carter and an awfully bad chinese movie about kung-fu …” Kara smirks, visualizing Cat Grant rolling her eyes at the film every five minutes.

“Alright, I’ll be there in a few,” she answers and Cat’s relieved sighs echoes in her ears.

“Be safe, Supergirl,” Cat adds and then hangs up but Kara still hears the untold “I love you” she didn’t dare say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys ! 
> 
> Long time no see, indeed.   
> I'm partially back with a chapter I wrote many many months ago but sadly, my real life took a strange and unexpected turn. Mostly for the better, don't worry, but the downside is that I'm so incredibly busy, I don't have time to write for pleasure anymore. 
> 
> Anyway, for the few followers of this fic, I hope you liked this chapter !
> 
> _As always, reviews are nice_


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